Sukkot
Can we welcome all the guests?
Reflection by Or HaLev teacher, Rabbah Dr. Mira Neshama:
"One of the central traditions in the festival of Sukkot is welcoming guests.
While the Zohar teaches us how to access the spiritual practice of welcoming mystical ushpizin (guests), the biblical source mentioning Sukkot (Devarim 16:14) started this tradition of inviting guests in a very literal sense.
And you shall rejoice in your festival, with your son and daughter, your servants, the [family of the] Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow in your communities.
וְשָׂמַחְתָּ֖ בְּחַגֶּ֑ךָ אַתָּ֨ה וּבִנְךָ֤ וּבִתֶּ֙ךָ֙ וְעַבְדְּךָ֣ וַאֲמָתֶ֔ךָ וְהַלֵּוִ֗י וְהַגֵּ֛ר וְהַיָּת֥וֹם וְהָאַלְמָנָ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר בִּשְׁעָרֶֽיךָ׃
The rejoicing is fulfilled when it is shared with others.
As I reflect on how we are instructed to invite everyone, especially those who might not have a sukkah of their own into our experience in order to make our joy meaningful, I remember that so it goes in meditation practice.
As we gather our bodies into stillness, we commit to invite everything present into the space of our awareness.
Mindfulness is not a select club. To the contrary, when we meditate we welcome both the joy and the sadness.
We do this because t is precisely when the fullness of our experience is welcome that it can be consoled.
This year during Yom Kippur, as I was sitting for hours in shul, sometimes meditating with my eyes closed, sometimes getting up and singing with others, sometimes lying down on the floor, I had many hours of inner experience of welcoming all the guests.
And in this first Yom Kippur after October 7, just a few days after the terrible anniversary and just a few days before the next Simchat Torah, it was no wonder that many of the thoughts that came were difficult.
I just welcomed them.
I know too well that it is the only way to cleanse my mind and heart.
This Sukkot, as I am getting ready to welcome all the guests, I am aware that some of them will be called sadness, anger, fear, and most of all, heartbrokeness.
I will welcome them as I trust the Sukkah of Peace, God’s gentle covering, will hold space for us. And I need that."